Wednesday, August 10, 2011

study of night

As I have mentioned before, I am building my portfolio- trying to find a market to put it in, as well. I have too many images of women in flowing dresses in nature. I needed a mix. So I made myself a challenge:

1)night
2)limited palette
3)mystery scene

The third wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be (meaning I wasn't pulling at my hair.) It was really fun! It made me think and create in a way that wasn't my norm.

Above are color comps/sketches of possible paintings for a young adult book (tween), children's book market. The first is a book cover idea, the second could be a cover as well a page in a children's book.

The first image, I wanted to create the illusion of being in a bird cage. So I painted stripes around the crow on the wall and on the girls dress. By slanting the image I created a sense of urgency along with the clues of the sudden appearance of a light, the opened letter, and the squawking of the crow. But even in this scene I just couldn't quite get by without flowing hair and fluffy dresses :)

The second image, I wanted to give the viewer the feeling of waking up in a strange space. So everything in the room is twice the size it should be. I love the the girl in the HUGE chair! I am excited to make that one into a real painting.

I love knowing that with each image I make I get a little better. Notice that my contrast between values is getting better? I love being an artist, it allows me to have have a visual journal of growth.